


words just can't espresso (how much you bean to me)

by cinnamoncat3



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Chloe is a matchmaker, Drabble, Fluff, I swear i'll write a proper be more chill story someday, Multi, No Angst, Pining, Rich uses they/them pronouns for Jake for awhile because he is good and doesn't assume, SO, Short One Shot, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and then it was, be like rich, jake is weak for rich, just fluff, like all of us, much - Freeform, or maybe more of a drabble?, rich and jeremy work at the squip's coffee shop, rich is weak for jake, rich thought the coffee shop wasn't meet-cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-18 08:43:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11870712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinnamoncat3/pseuds/cinnamoncat3
Summary: “im a barista at a 24 hour coffeeshop and you just came in with a bucket and asked me to fill it with coffee… u okay?”Or, in which Rich is tired and hates his job, and Jake is tired and wants to study, and they meet and both like each other a lot.





	words just can't espresso (how much you bean to me)

**Author's Note:**

> this is prompt based and i've been working on it for three or four days so its not that great but idk i just wanted to write some wholesome richjake
> 
> it's quite short and not that good but whatever it's cute
> 
> feature: mentions of pinkberry and boyf riends

Rich flipped through another few pages of his textbook, allowing a small groan to fall through his lips in the process. Technically, he should have been doing work of some kind for this goddamn 24-hour coffee shop, because as his boss always said, “There’s always more work to be done!”, but he had finals next week, and it was three a.m, and he couldn’t give less of a fuck. 

He rubbed at his blurry eyes, irritated. How did this become his life?

Rich thought coffee shops were supposed to be meet-cute. Charming places. Imagine your otp, in all kinds of ways. Aesthetic incarnate. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

The 24-hour coffee shop he worked at wasn’t charming, or anything really. It looked like a McDonalds without golden arches. There was nothing particularly special about the place-it was owned by the school, too, and his boss mostly cared about overworking his employees. Somedays, Rich couldn’t believe it caught his eye in the first place. 

It was okay during finals, mostly because of the coffee discounts, but it was 3 a.m and Rich had only just gotten to studying. His marks and mental health were showing the effects. His friends were concerned, and rightfully so. Jeremy was the most worried, actually asking him if he’d considered quitting the job. Which was even weirder, because Jeremy also worked at Squip Grinds. 

He’d shared a shift with Rich earlier that day, gushing about Michael pretty much the entire time. The group chat was the only place where Jeremy wasn’t talking about pining over Michael, and that was just because Michael was in it. Rich was so close to shoving them in a closet together until they sorted their shit out. So, so close.

In the meantime, he returned to the pile of notes around him and started to revise a few pages. 

After another 20 minutes of mindlessly highlighting and rewriting, he heard the chime of the bell at the door, and nearly dropped his textbook on his face in surprise. 

Immediately, he dashed towards the front counter and threw on his generic employee hat. “Hello and welcome to Squip Grinds. What can I get for you today?”

“Can you fill up this bucket with your most caffeinated product?”

What the fuck…? 

“Please, man. I know it’s a pretty weird request but I am so close to falling asleep and I need coffee. I have so much studying to do.”

Rich barely registered the words that the person right in front of him had said. Mostly because said person was incredibly attractive. Fluffy brown hair, eyes brighter blue than his future, taller than tall (they positively towered over Rich, and goddamn if he wasn’t into height difference like that), a linebacker jacket with the sleeves rolled up that showed off absolutely perfect forearms...Suddenly Rich understood Jeremy’s hopeless pining. He completely understood. 

The Most Perfect Human Being Alive™ , as Rich decided to mentally nickname the person, despite their good looks, was undeniably exhausted. 

Rich furrowed his brows. “I can’t just pour you a bucket of coffee when you look that tired. Go back to your dorm and get some sleep, you’re gonna run yourself dry.”

“I need to run myself dry! I’m gonna fail my finals if I don’t!”

“You’re gonna regret not taking a nap if you don’t.”

The Most Perfect Human Being Alive™ frowned. 

“Come back here after you’ve slept for a while. You’ll just feel worse and probably even do worse on your tests if you don’t sleep at all.” Rich said. 

“Okay.”

And with an empty bucket and doorbell chime, The Most Perfect Human Being Alive™ was gone, along with Rich’s chances of ever going out on a date with them.

<>

Two days later, and Rich had already whined about The Most Perfect Human Being Alive™ to all of his friends. They were all tired of it, and Chloe had actually compared him to Michael and Jeremy. He was that bad. That far gone. 

But when he had told her how they’d met, late night in a coffee shop with a bucket and a pile of textbooks, she gave him a little fond smile and disappeared to go text someone else she knew. 

Now Rich was back in the coffee shop, at a decent time instead. It was 10 a.m, on the dot. He gently wiped down a table, humming along to some song that he probably made up. 

The doorbell chimed gently, and Rich turned around to face it, shocked to see The Most Perfect Human Being Alive™ stroll through the front door of the coffee shop, Chloe, of all people, at their side. 

“Yeah, it’s his shift right now, there he is-Rich! I wanted to formally introduce you to my friend Jake. You met him the other day, didn’t you?” Chloe said, smiling sweetly. It was a fake sweet smile. She set this whole thing up from the moment he told her about The Most Perfect Human Being Alive™, or Jake, he supposed. The Most Perfect Human Being Alive™ was named Jake. 

“Hey. You aren’t going to ask me for another bucket-full of coffee, are you?” Rich teased a little, testing the waters. Seriously, he used to be way better at flirting, but there was something about Jake that kind of just made him want to melt into a puddle and forget everything else he ever knew.

“Heh, yeah.” Jake rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, blushing a little. “I actually did get some sleep after you asked me to. Thanks for that.”

Rich smiled, his cheeks heating up against his will as his heart did backflips. 

Chloe looked at her phone. “Okay, well I have to go. Brooke just asked me to bring her some Pinkberry so she can study without dying. Girlfriend duties call.” 

She strolled out of the shop, shooting the duo still inside an exaggerated wink. 

Rich managed a slight glare, brain still muddled with thoughts of Jake. 

“H-Hey, man, do you wanna maybe, go for coffee sometime, or something?” Jake stuttered.

Rich tried not to laugh, but failed, blushing and giggling like a schoolgirl with a crush. “Not here, that’s for sure! The coffee at Squip Grinds is shit. I’d love to, but somewhere else-somewhere with half-decent lattes.”

Jake flushed an embarrassed red, but smiled. “I know a place.”

“My shifts just finishing up now. If you take me to a Starbucks I swear to almighty God…”

“No, no, a place not owned by a huge company or a school. A cat cafe!”

Rich was ecstatic. “A CAT CAFE! THAT’S PERFECT! YOU ARE LITERALLY PERFECT!”

Jake grinned at him again, and Rich knew he was totally gone. Gone in the best possible way. Maybe the coffee shop wasn’t quite as bad as he thought it was...

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is high-quality-not
> 
> i mostly just reblog some shit


End file.
